STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the financial costs incurred by outpatient surgical centers in managing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. SETTING: 6 hospital-based outpatient surgery centers. PATIENTS: 211 adult patients undergoing outpatient surgery for laparoscopy, dilatation and curettage, knee arthroscopy, or hernia repair. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 211 patients studied, 34 experienced PONV in the recovery room. For those patients experiencing PONV, personnel, supply, and drug costs for management of this condition averaged $14.94 per patient. In addition, PONV increased the centers' operating costs by delaying patient discharge by an average of 24 minutes. A minimum estimate of this cost, based on nurses' wage rates, was $7.12. This estimate is appropriate only for short-run considerations in outpatient surgery centers that operate at low capacity. An appropriate valuation for long-run considerations and for centers operating near capacity is based on the revenue that centers lose as a result of extended stays. Lost revenue was estimated to be $415 per patient experiencing PONV. CONCLUSIONS: PONV substantially increases the costs incurred by outpatient surgical centers.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the financial costs incurred by outpatient surgical centers in managing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. SETTING: 6 hospital-based outpatient surgery centers. PATIENTS: 211 adult patients undergoing outpatient surgery for laparoscopy, dilatation and curettage, knee arthroscopy, or hernia repair. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 211 patients studied, 34 experienced PONV in the recovery room. For those patients experiencing PONV, personnel, supply, and drug costs for management of this condition averaged $14.94 per patient. In addition, PONV increased the centers' operating costs by delaying patient discharge by an average of 24 minutes. A minimum estimate of this cost, based on nurses' wage rates, was $7.12. This estimate is appropriate only for short-run considerations in outpatient surgery centers that operate at low capacity. An appropriate valuation for long-run considerations and for centers operating near capacity is based on the revenue that centers lose as a result of extended stays. Lost revenue was estimated to be $415 per patient experiencing PONV. CONCLUSIONS: PONV substantially increases the costs incurred by outpatient surgical centers.
Authors: Neil Singla; Harold S Minkowitz; David G Soergel; David A Burt; Ruth Ann Subach; Monica Y Salamea; Michael J Fossler; Franck Skobieranda Journal: J Pain Res Date: 2017-10-06 Impact factor: 3.133